This is my professional portfolio. It includes work samples in design, writing and photography.

So, I’m scrambling to write three blog posts for class today because I put it off all week because I forgot, was tired or just thought I had more time. And yes, I know the title of this post is so cheesy it’s almost sickening, but I want to talk about how even though you can procrastinate for class, you can’t really do that with finances.

As the sole bill payer for my group of roommates, procrastinating isn’t something that I can really do when I have to pay up. I usually wait until I have the money to avoid overdrawing my account, but I have to keep a close eye on pay days and due dates. I started paying my bills online because I’m old school and actually prefer mailing a check, but it seems to be easier and faster to pay online, at least that’s what I thought.

On Aug. 22 I paid my gas bill that was due Aug. 27 online. Aug. 27 was a Tuesday, which means I was in class from 5 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. While I was sitting in my five o’clock class, the gas company emailed me to tell me my payment was rejected. Because I was in class and didn’t receive the email until I got home around 10 p.m., my payment was going to be late.

I hopped online and checked my bank account to double check I had the money and I had plenty. So, I repaid the bill and called the gas company first thing in the morning. They explained that I had entered my account number for the gas company instead of for my bank account, which is why the first payment was rejected and because I still paid it on the due date, it wasn’t late. However, I was never so scared of getting a late fee in my life.

How absolutely horrible, a late fee.

But, even if you don’t have a brain fart and put the wrong number in the account section while paying your online bill, a late fee could be a reality when paying bills. They can add up quickly, especially on credit cards. I’m sure most of you know that you need to pay credit card bills on time or else the interest will skyrocket and a late fee will make you need to get another credit card just to pay for the last one (logical, right?).

If you’re not a pro at keeping track of what day it is (let’s be honest if it wasn’t for our phones we wouldn’t even know what month it is, let alone the day), lifehacker.com wrote an article about how to avoid late fees by batching your bills. Check it out here: http://lifehacker.com/5439703/avoid-late-fees-by-batching-your-bills.

Don’t be afraid to set reminders on your phone to pay your bills. Using a white board is a great way to keep your roommates up to date on when to pay you for bills or when the bills are do. Don’t ever tell your roommates to pay you on the day the bill is due because they might not get you the money in time or they won’t have it. Always have a few days of a grace period between your roommates paying you and the bill’s due date.

I found this link on twitter to an article that sounds exciting at first because the jobless claims dropped, but if you keep reading its attributed to a glitch, which just proves that technology isn’t completely reliable.

As mostly seniors in college, the jobless claim count is a double-edged sword. We want the claims to be low because that means employers are hiring, but at the same time, if it’s low, there might not be a position for a recent graduate. Contrarily, if it’s high, then employees aren’t hiring, but it also could mean they’re waiting for a younger, more energetic candidate instead of someone who is tired from being in the workforce for 25 years.

This could be me being semi-optimistic, but it’s better than being depressed over whether or not we’ll have a job right? Anyway, check out the link and read the article.

The No. 1-seeded Shippensburg University Raiders had one loss on their season going into the PSAC semifinal game Friday afternoon against the No. 6-seeded Millersville Marauders, who defeated them 1-0 at Vonnie Gros Field.

The Raiders (17-2) only had to win one game to advance to the PSAC championship game in search of their second PSAC championship. They received a bye for the quarterfinals and had to play just one game to move on to the championship, but they fell short.

After 2:52 of play, the Marauders’ (13-6) Katelynn Zapp scored the first and only goal of the game, assisted by Ashley Weber.

Shippensburg only had a few chances to score, but could not capitalize on any of them. Junior Bre White got tripped inside the box, giving Shippensburg a penalty stroke and a chance to tie the game at the 5:30 mark in the second half.

Sophomore Ari Saytar took the penalty shot, but Marauder sophomore goalie Lauren Sotzin made the stop, sealing the game for MU.

The low scoring game was accompanied by few attacks at the net. The Raiders had only two shots on goal, and the Marauders had nine. Another gap in the statistics came in penalty corners. Millersville had 10 penalty corners. Shippensburg had five corners the entire game, three of them coming in the last three minutes of the game.

Millersville fell to West Chester 4-0 in the PSAC final Saturday.

Although Shippensburg got knocked out of the PSAC Tournament in the semifinals, the Raiders received the No. 1 seed in the South Region for the NCAA Tournament. The Raiders receive a bye from the quarterfinals. They face the winner of Indiana (Pa.) and West Chester in the semifinals Nov. 9. West Chester hosts IUP Saturday at 1.

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks topped visiting Shippensburg University in men’s and women’s swimming action Friday evening at the John A. Pidgeon Natatorium. The women won 109-91 and the men came out with a 122-80 win.

Julia Brownrigg and Rikki Sargent captured individual wins for the Raiders. Brownrigg’s winning 200-yard freestyle time of 1:59.14 qualified her for the PSAC Championships.

Sargent, who won both the 200 butterfly and the 200 breaststroke, also nabbed a spot in the PSAC Championships. Sargent’s win in the butterfly was not an easy one. IUP’s Allison Humphries gave her quite a race, as the two finished tenths of a second apart. They were nearly stroke-for-stroke the entire race. Sargent managed to outstretch Humphries for the win in 2:16.57, a time that was only .19 seconds better than Humphries, who finished in 2:16.76.Brownrigg, despite only winning one race, managed to qualify for the PSAC Championships in the 500-yard freestyle. She also helped teammates Julie Brown, Carolyn Meier and Jen Flinchbaugh take the 400-yard freestyle relay in a time of 3:29.23.

On the men’s side of the rope, Shippensburg finished first in the 400-yard freestyle relay, and Sean Minford took first in the 200-yard breaststroke. Although those were the only two first place finishers of the night, eight Raiders still qualified for the PSAC Championship. Eight Raider women’s swimmers also qualified for the conference meet.

Shippensburg’s Eddie LaNoue narrowly lost to IUP’s Doug McWhorter in the 50-yard freestyle. LaNoue, McWhorter, Paul Singerman (IUP) and Edgar Choy (IUP) all finished under 23 seconds in the race. LaNoue and McWhorter were only .09 seconds apart. McWhorter, who finished in 22.33 seconds, had just enough momentum to hit the timer before LaNoue, who finished in 22.42 seconds.

Despite the loss, both the Raider men’s and women’s teams picked up 16 PSAC cuts during the meet. IUP picked up 29 PSAC qualifying cuts as well.

The Shippensburg women won seven events to beat Fairmont State 112-67 Saturday to improve to 2-3, while the Raider men fell to Fairmont State 107-92 and dropped to 1-4. Senior Eric Naylor picked up a PSAC cut in the 100 butterfly with a 54.47-second finish. Both Raider teams are 0-3 in the PSAC.

Shippensburg swims at the Patriot Invitational at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va., on Nov. 15.

Published Nov. 6, 2012 by the Shippensburg News-Chronicle, Shippensburg, Pa.